YouTube Rewind 2018 becomes site’s second most disliked video

YouTube’s annual recap video celebrating the biggest videos and trends of the year has become the second most disliked post in the site’s history.

The YouTube Rewind 2018 video, which was only uploaded to the site last week, has already amassed more than seven million dislikes, placing it behind only Justin Bieber’s 2010 music video for his single Baby on the list of most disliked videos in the site’s history.

And while Bieber’s video has been on the site for eight years, Rewind has gathered its dislikes in four days.

The video centres around a group of the site’s content creators taking part in a real-life version of Fortnite, but many have criticised it for omitting prominent YouTubers including PewDiePie, the most-subscribed-to personality on the site.

PewDiePie, real name Felix Kjellberg, posted his own reaction video to Rewind, describing it as “so disconnected from the community and its creators”, a sentiment echoed by many YouTube users in the video’s comments section.

Kjellberg did admit he felt it was “harder” to make a Rewind today than in previous years because the number of high profile personalities on the site made it impossible for the video to include everyone.

“I remember Rewind was something that seemed like a homage to the creators that year,” he said.

“It was something cool to be a part of. Now it’s like I’m almost glad I’m not in it, because it’s such a cringey video at this point.”

Others questioned why the likes of Logan Paul and KSI did not appear after a boxing match at Manchester Arena between the two was streamed on the site by about 800,000 people, sparking discussions around the rising influence of YouTube personalities.

However, Paul’s absence could be explained by his presence at the centre of one of the biggest controversies of the year on the platform, after posting a video at the beginning of the year that appeared to show the body of a suicide victim, which led to calls for him to be banned from the site.

The Rewind video has received some praise for its diversity and embrace of a range of cultures, as well as its use of animation, but much of the response has been negative, with one commenter labelling it “devoid of anything YouTube”.